PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Shares Sold by D.B. Root & Company LLC

D.B. Root & Company LLC cut its position in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $2,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 588.5% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPG Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PPG. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PPG Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $170.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp cut their price target on PPG Industries from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPG Industries currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish bought 2,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $133.24 per share, with a total value of $274,607.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,774,388.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:PPG traded up $0.99 on Friday, reaching $125.89. 2,585,591 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,493,101. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.32 and a 52 week high of $152.89. The firm has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.86. PPG Industries had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 22.98%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.92%.

PPG Industries declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PPG Industries Profile

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.